


One Unanswerable Question

by DarkShade



Series: The Doctor And The Nurse [10]
Category: Doctor Who
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Doctor/Companion Friendship, Father-Son Relationship, Friendship, Gen, childhood angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-04
Updated: 2020-12-04
Packaged: 2021-03-09 21:47:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,994
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27883233
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DarkShade/pseuds/DarkShade
Summary: With nothing to do, travelling back to the TARDIS, the Doctor finally asks Rory about his father.
Relationships: Tenth Doctor & Rory Williams
Series: The Doctor And The Nurse [10]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1754761
Comments: 2
Kudos: 10





	One Unanswerable Question

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you like this.  
> And the explanation doesn't disappoint.

Rory ran through the corridors of the ship, the replacement part the Doctor needed to fix the engines gripped tightly in his hands, while several of the mercenaries who had taken over the ship chased while shooting at them.

“Run,” Markis the security guard who was accompanying him snapped when they reached the security door, “I’ll hold them back.”

Rory turned to the older man, “I can’t leave you.”

Markis pushed him forward, “This is my job. Our only chance is for the Doctor to get that and fixes the ship. Go.”

Rory stared at him, trying to think of a way to persuade him not to do this.

“GO!!!” Markis yelled again, pushing Rory through the door before shooting the controls to close and lock it. Helplessly Rory watched the door shut on the other man who continued to fire at the invaders. Knowing Markis couldn’t survive for long, Rory started to run again. Rory was sure he was fitter than he had ever been after all the running since meeting the Doctor.

They had stopped off on the planet Keeridas because the Doctor thought Rory and Donna would find the place fun. They’d landed a few streets away from where the leisure cruiser was sitting. It was massive and the Doctor flashed his psychic paper to get them onboard as visitors so they could join the ‘street festival’ and try the samples all the restaurants had out amongst the entertainment. Typically, the ship was taken over by a group of invaders who started them out of dock, damaging the engines so they were unable to change the heading, meaning they were now somewhere in space far away from the TARDIS. The Doctor somehow managed to persuade the Captain that they could help, which was why he was now sprinting from one end of the ship to the other holding the one thing they needed to take the ship back. 

As Rory made his way through the corridors, he hoped not to run into any more of the invaders between here and the engine room. His luck didn’t hold out and Rory was soon dodging laser blasts again. With no other choice Rory continued to run, slamming into the man shooting at him. They both fell to the floor and wrestled about a bit. Rory had no way to win, the man fighting with him was a trained soldier and easily overpowered him. Rory managed to slide his hand into his pocket and pulled out the medi-pen he had, slamming it into the other man’s arm Rory prayed it was a sedative.

Relief filled him when the other man’s eyes rolled up in his head and he dropped unconscious. Rory grunted as he managed to push the man off him, and lay trying to catch his breath for a moment. Forcing himself off the floor, he picked up the engine part again. 

Rory pushed his hand through his hair, “Okay,” he sighed to himself, “You can do this.”

Taking a deep breath, Rory started to run again. Finally the engine room was in front of him, and just through the open door he could see the Doctor running around keeping everything going until Rory arrived with what he needed to fix the engines, which would allow the Captain and his people to take over the ship again.

Pushing with his last bit of strength Rory reached the engine room and handed his friend what he’d been waiting for.

The Doctor grabbed it, running over to install the part while Rory slid down the wall to catch his breath.

“Donna,” the Doctor called the moment he finished, “Tell the Captain to hit the button now.”

“Gotcha,” Donna replied and a few moments later the sound of the ship jumping to life. 

“Well,” the Doctor slid down the wall to sit by Rory’s side, “We did it.”

Rory laughed, “You did it.”

“You made it through this ships to get me that part despite the man with guns,” the Doctor reminded him, “Stop putting yourself down.”

Shrugging Rory sighed, “I guess it’s my default setting.”

The Doctor stared at him intently, trying to decide whether or not to pry deeper into his friend’s past.

“I’m not used to being the one people reply on,” Rory chuckled, before adding, “Not personally anyway other than Amy. I was always Rory who tripped over his own feet or who stammered his way through any supposed lie.”

The Doctor clapped his shoulder, “From the moment we met, Rory I’ve known I can count on you. Look at everything you’ve done. You’re amazing.”

Rory gave a small smile.

They both looked up as the captain of the ship came over the speakers.

“Attention all. The intruders have been removed from the ship and our engines have now been repaired. We are returning to the Planet Eredis,” the Captain announced, “All facilities will reopen within the next few hours and those who were not planning to be on the ship shall be allocated a place to stay until we make it back.” 

The Doctor smiled, “See. We will be back at the TARDIS…” he paused and calculated, “Three days.”

Rory nodded before asking, “How are you going to handle doing nothing for three days?”

“Oy,” the Doctor nudged him, “I can relax.”

“I’ll believe it when I see it,” Rory smiled.

The Doctor clapped his shoulder, “Come on, we should go check in with Donna and get some rooms for the rest of the trip.”

*********************************************

The leisure ship they were on, now it had been repaired and managed to get rid of the intruders, was nice. Rory offered to help the medical team with anyone who had been injured, but thankfully there were not too many people injured so he wasn’t needed after a few hours. Donna had staked out a spot by the swimming pool and threatened them with bodily harm if they disturbed her.

Wandering round the ship Rory found a hydroponics bay. Walking around it was nice, but it seemed to be a spot not many people came to and he didn’t want to be on his own after everything so instead headed to the main thoroughfare. He found a perfect spot on the observation deck which let him watch the other passengers and sat to simply people-watch.

“Alright,” the Doctor said taking a seat beside Rory, “I’m bored.”

Rory chuckled, “That took longer than I thought it would.”

“What are you doing?” the Doctor asked.

“Just people watching,” Rory told him, “I used to do it back in Leadworth when Amy was busy. Watching people going about their lives, seeing families together. I like that.”

The Doctor nodded and they sat in silence for several minutes watching the people below. After a few while, the Doctor sighed, “Do you want a drink?”

Rory chuckled, “You lasted three minutes.”

“I just feel like a drink and something to eat,” the Doctor defended himself, “Thought you might want something too.”

Rory nodded, “Why not.”

Clapping his shoulder, the Doctor headed to the café near them.

The Doctor glanced up to where Rory sat. It was interesting to see how he could simply sit and watch people go past him. Once he was served the Doctor started back up to his friend, pausing as he saw a look of pain in the younger man’s eyes briefly before he shook it away. Following Rory’s eyeline the Doctor saw a little boy sitting with his father, who was reading him a story. Heading back up to the observation deck, the Doctor sat beside Rory again and placed the tray between them.

“Rory,” he said after a few minutes, deciding it was time, “Can I ask you something?”

Shrugging Rory replied, “Sure.”

“Why are you avoiding your father?”

The Doctor watched Rory become very interested in the pastry he was eating.

“Rory…”

“It’s a long story,” Rory tried to brush past it.

The Doctor looked around, “We appear to have plenty of time.”

Rory frowned, “Why do you care?”

“Because I’m your friend,” the Doctor reminded him, “And I saw how the calls you were getting upset you.”

Rory sat in silence and finished the pastry before taking a long drink. Finally, he said, “I was ten and we were going on holiday to France for a few weeks over the summer. My mum had friends living there we were visiting. I caught a stomach bug on the last few days of school, so we had to push our trip a week.”

He paused and the Doctor remained silent waiting for him to continue.

“My dad packed up the car and we started off early,” Rory continued, “I still wasn’t feeling great, so I fell asleep in the back seat. I woke up when…” he took a deep breath and managed to continued, “…when the truck hit us. The guy behind the wheel had a heart attack and lost control, he survived.”

“What about your family?” the Doctor pushed.

Rory took a slow shuddering breath, “My mum was killed instantly, my dad was hurt and I barely had a scratch,” he rubbed his eyes, “While my dad recovered, I was sent to my gran’s to stay.”

The Doctor sat in silence, simply waiting for Rory to continue his story.

“I thought it would only be for a few weeks, a month at the most,” Rory shook his head, “But at my mum’s funeral, he turned me and said that I had to be good for gran. When I asked how long I’d be with gran, he simply patted my head and left.”

“Rory…” the Doctor started, not sure what else to say.

Taking a quick drink, Rory continued, “I thought I’d done something wrong, that my mum’s death was my fault because I’d been sick and had to postpone our holiday. So, I tried to make it up to him,” anger filled Rory’s voice, “The only times I heard from him was my birthday where I got a card and a present, I’m sure my gran bought, and at Christmas exactly the same but I wrote to him every Sunday, telling him all the good things I’d done that week,” He trailed off in memory from a moment before shaking himself and continuing, “I thought maybe if I worked hard enough then he’d know I was a good kid and wouldn’t be any trouble. I managed to skip two years and left school at sixteen because of that thinking. I then started my nursing degree. When I graduated, I sent him an invitation because I wanted my dad there, but he didn’t come. Didn’t even contact me.”

The Doctor rested his hand on Rory’s shoulder in silence.

“He started calling me about a year before I left Leadworth,” Rory said, “I ignored the calls as much as I could, but finally I answered. He wanted to talk to me,” he let out an annoyed laugh, “Now I’m an adult he wants to talk. Where was he when I needed him? I was a kid who’d just lost my mother and I needed him, where was he then?” Rory snapped, visibly forcing himself to be calm, “I told him no and to leave me alone. He tries every few months and we go through the cycle. Amy always says I owe him nothing and she’s right.”

“She is,” the Doctor said softly, “You are amazing, and if he couldn’t see this then that’s his problem.”

Rory gave him a soft smile before he checked his watch, “I promised to help the medical team since they’re short staffed.”

“I’ll meet you for dinner, we can try tear Donna away from her sunlounger,” the Doctor nodded as Rory darted away.

As he watched Rory wander away, the Doctor leaned back. There was one question he hadn’t asked, which was the one question Rory wouldn’t be able to answer.

Why had he not blocked his father’s number?


End file.
